Ethan Somerset hails from Canterbury, England, where he grew up with his parents, Dorian and Maren. Dorian, a stately and distinguished wizard, is a member of the Board of Directors at Vitruvian, Inc., a wizarding corporation in the medicinal field. Maren, a short, plump, matronly witch, provided Ethan with his wizarding schooling, after opting not to send him to Hogwarts. Little did Ethan realize that he received so much more than the average magical education.
After twelve years of home schooling, Ethan entered auror's training and graduated from the program with high marks. He earned a position with the Ministry of Magic in 1992, where he worked as an auror through the summer of 1996. Ethan's biggest case was in the spring of that last year, when Dierna ní Ciaran assigned him to aid Bulgarian Quidditch player Viktor Krum in his investigation of Koyla, the leader of a dark cult.
Ethan and Viktor infiltrated Koyla's cult in order to learn more about him and his followers. Unfortunately, tragedy struck when in the summer of 1996, Hufflepuff student Kendra Beck was kidnapped by some of Koyla's men during her vacation in muggle Sofia. Ethan and Viktor were unable to save her from Koyla's murderous plan and nearly lost their own lives.
After a dramatic rescue, Ethan returned to Great Britain and left the Ministry of Magic and his job. Not willing himself to return to his old line of work, Maren Somerset suggested he apply for the new opening at Hogwarts: Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Ethan reluctantly agreed and soon found himself at Hogwarts, where he taught the course through February of the following year.
His tenure at the school lasted shorter than the average Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor because shortly after his arrival at Hogwarts, Ethan started to hear a voice in his head. Unsure of its origin, Ethan thought he was going mad, but then on Halloween night an extraordinary change came over him. He realized immediately that the voice in his head belonged to none other than Lord Voldemort.
Slowly slipping into darkness, Ethan made the full transformation into Voldemort's pawn on New Year's Eve of that year. He immediately exercised his right as Voldemort's spy at Hogwarts and intercepted Professor Dumbledore's personal correspondences. Worried about her friend and former colleague, Dierna stopped by for a visit one day and noticed the change in Ethan's behavior. She voiced her concerns to Dumbledore, and Ethan, no longer feeling safe at Hogwarts, fled never to return.
After an initial visit to see his parents, Ethan took up residence at Voldemort's lair, where he remained for some time. His first mission outside Hogwarts as the Dark Lord's pawn involved the recruitment of fellow dark wizards in Taipei, Taiwan. The ringleader of the group of dark wizards, Kep-Tian Zhongxun, agreed to join Voldemort's forces if and only if Ethan helped him get rid of an old enemy. Ethan accepted the terms and went to Memphis, Egypt with Kep-Tian and his colleagues.
In Memphis, Ethan met Taz-Marah, a former follower of Kep-Tian turned traitor. A battle ensued between Kep-Tian's wizards and Taz-Marah's followers. Everyone except for Ethan and Kep-Tian died in the duel, with Ethan killing Taz-Marah himself. This single act set off a hidden trigger in Ethan's mind, starting a chain of events that would reverse the enchantment Voldemort had placed on him.
Sensing Ethan's resistance, the Dark Lord formally removed the enchantment from him during the winter of 1997. Ethan turned himself into authorities at the Ministry of Magic, went to trial and was sentenced to life in Azkaban, where he remained until Kep-Tian kidnapped him. He managed to escape, wherein one of his captors, Morgain Noir, suffered the effects of a strong memory spell.
Ethan took the mindless Morgain to the Ministry of Magic, where he gave his statement to the authorities. Both were sent to St. Mungo's for observations. Morgain was eventually put on trial, where she was sentenced to life in prison. Her term, however, would be held at St. Mungo's, since she had suffered spell damage. Ethan went to trial on September 1, 1998. He was cleared of all charges, but the terms of his release required him to visit St. Mungo's weekly for checkups for a period of one year.
On the eve of Ethan's release, a pair of dark wizards attacked St. Mungo's Hospital. Morgain was killed in the incident. One of the culprits was identified as Nero Noir, Morgain's own brother, who had orders directly from Voldemort to kill Ethan. He attempted and nearly succeeded in his task in December of 1998, when he kidnapped Ethan and held him hostage in a cave in Hogsmeade. Ethan was left confused and without food and water for a week, when he was rescued by Jon and Rob May, and Adam Sparrow.
After clearing his name, Ethan moved into a duplex in wizarding Greenwich and returned to work at Auror Headquarters. In addition to his job, Ethan worked on unraveling his mysterious past. He solicited the help of good friend Dierna ni Ciaran, who in turn asked for aid from Severus Snape. From Severus, Ethan anonymously received a document titled Project 25. Project 25 lists all "the Others," wizards Ethan had reason to believe were just like he once was. Ethan researched all the names on the list and located and identified everyone but one person, Maverick Pilot. With Dierna's help, Ethan brewed a locator potion to find Maverick. The results were most mysterious: Maverick Pilot appeared to be at the home of Ethan's parents.
After this startling discovery, Ethan broke into his father's office and found another document entitled Project 25, only this one had 25 new names on it. He was unable to locate any of the wizards on the list and later learned the names actually corresponded to those on the first list. Meanwhile, Severus found a duplicate copy of this second list as well as a similar list with dates on it at Voldemort's lair. These were given to Ethan through Dierna.
He started investigating the names on the list and came into contact with several who work at the Ministry of Magic. In particular, he befriended Rosamond Boggs, from whom he accidentally learned that "the Others" had started meeting together. Ethan brought all he knew about Project 25 to Forest Woods, the Head Auror at the Ministry of Magic. Unfortunately, there was little to go on until Ethan located Maverick Pilot, who'd gone under an alias named Grady O'Niell. Maverick confessed to being a servant of the Dark Lord and that there were other such wizards, but he had never heard of Project 25. The Aurors tried to arrest "the Others", but all had fled after Maverick's capture.
On August 31, 1999, the wizards from Project 25 were led into Diagon Alley by Lord Voldemort himself. They killed many innocent wizards and destroyed much property. At the end of the day, 4 were killed, 10 captured, and 8 escaped along with Voldemort. The day also marked the end of Ethan's probationary period.
That evening, the parents of "the Others" were arrested, since it was discovered that they were involved in Project 25 too. Some escaped and are still missing.
In researching "the Others" Ethan learned that all had been wizards kidnapped from their Muggle homes. Ethan learned his birth name, Silas Emeric, and tracked down his grandmother, Emilia Emeric. He eventually met his aunt Hattie, who lied and said his entire family was dead. His aunt Bernadette, whom he later discovered, told the truth and introduced Ethan to his real family. He was very surprised to learn that Jon and Rob May, his good friends, were actually his brothers.
His inclusion in the May family was brief, however. After sister Susan fell ill, Ethan took a blood test and discovered he didn't share his family's DNA. From Hattie, he learned that she'd kidnapped him as a baby and substituted him for the real Silas, who'd died of SIDs. She did this based on a prophecy she'd heard about him. Ethan learned that his real name is actually Finn Towneley. He located his biological family, and they have accepted him for who he is.
Regrettably, the blood status prejudice plaguing the wizarding world under Minister Smythe-Jones' leadership affected Ethan greatly. All the Project 25 parents were released from prison, including Dorian and Maren Somerset. Nero Noir is also a free man. Hattie Harsnip was also released, but died shortly after gaining her freedom. Ethan was arrested again on February 14, 2002 and served a second life sentence at Azkaban until he was transfered to a community for wizards of impure bloodlines on September 1, 2002. He remained at Brecqhou until Dierna ni Ciaran came to his rescue.
Ethan went into hiding in France with the extended family of Michael Turin but eventually joined the Resistance Movement against the Minister of Magic. He participated in the raid at the Ministry and then resumed his old position as an auror. In time for the 2003-2004 school year, Professor Dumbledore offered Ethan a position at Hogwarts. He currently teaches DADA to first-fourth years.
Ethan's daughter Lilly Boggs Somerset was born March 24, 2005. Her mother, Rosamond, was tragically murdered by first year Slytherin student Penn Ellison, who was soon discovered to actually be Hattie Harsnip, whom Ethan had thought dead. In reality, Hattie's body had died when her soul had been placed into another body. In the summer of 2004, her soul had been transplanted into the dying body of young Penn Ellison by his own aunt Meadow O'Guinn. Rosamond is buried in Greenwich.
My brothers Alton and Callum and my sister Ariadne.
Jan 07, 2019 11:55 am Intense ending. Love this plot!